Charging fork for enameling furnaces



April 21, 1925.

Filed Jan. 10, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 flu-um I To-L illllilll I Nu April 21, 1925.

- F. M. KQCH CHARGING FORK FOR ENAMELING FURNACES 5 Shets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 10, 1924 .4. 0 6 8 o 4 1/3 w 1| .11 \IE m L a. a 7 a M a 3 J 9 .w w 2 2 gmwm FM m

April 21, 1925.

1,534,649 F. M. KOCH CHARGING FORK FOR ENAMELING FURNACES Filed -Jain. 10,1924 "5 Sheets-Sheet 4 April 21, 1925. 1,534,649

F. M. KOCH CHARGING FORK FOR ENAMEL-INK: FURNACES Filed Jan. 10, 1924 SSheets-Shcet 5 June/"4'01,

Patented Apr. 21, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS M. KOCH, OF CANTON, OHIO, ASSIGINOR TO THE REPUBLIC STAMPING & ENAMELING COMPANY, OF CANTON, QHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

CHARGING FORK FOR- ENAMELING FURNACES.

Application filed January 10, 1924.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, F nanors M. K001i, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Canton, county of Stark, and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Charging Forks for Enameling Furnaces, of which the following isa specification.

Charging forks such as are commonly used for placing the ware in enanieling furnaces and removing the ware therefrom, are ordinarily manually operated by the burner," making it necessary for him to first open the furnace door and then manually push the fork into the furnace, lowering or raising the same after it has reached the proper position within the furnace to either deposit new ware upon the hearth of the furnace or remove burnt ware therefrom. The burner is thus exposed to excessive heat during the charging and unloading of the furnace.

It is also customary in operating the usual form of charging forks for the burner to first manually open the furnace door and then move the fork into the furnace to charge or unload the same, after which he manually withdraws the fork from the furnace and then closes the door. This operation causes a considerable waste of heat from the furnace as the door is necessarily left open for a considerable period during the operation of the charging fork.

The objects of the present invention are to overcome the above difficulties by providing acharging fork which is automatically operated to open the door only during the time the fork is actually passing into'or out of the furnace and to automatically move the loaded fork into the furnace, lower the same to deposit the ware upon the hearth of the furnace, and automatically withdraw the fork from the furnace, the fork remain ingin the lowered position until it is desired to withdraw the burnt ware from the furnace, when the fork is again automatically moved into the furnace, raised to lift the ware from the hearth, and withdrawn from the furnace, the fork being autoi'nati cally stopped after the ware is withdrawn.

A further object is to provide means for automatically turning off the gas or oil burners during the time the ware is in the fnrnace. automatically turning the burners Serial No. 685,434.

on when the ware is withdrawn from the furnace.

A still further object is to provide charging forks of this character which the burner may operate at a distance from the furnace, obviating the necessity of exposing himself to the extreme heat of the open furnace as he charges or unloads the same.

The above and other objects are attained by constructing the charging forks in the manner illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- I Figure l, is a side elevation of a charging fork and a portion of a furnace showing the fork loaded with ware and in position to be moved into the furnace;

Fig. 2, a top plan view of. the carriage from which the forkis suspended, showing a portion of the track in broken lines;

Fig. 3, a section on the line 33, Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a section on the line ll., Fig. 2; Fig. 5, a section on the line 55, Fig. 1;

Fig. (5, a perspective view of the fork rais ing and lowering mechanism upon the carriage;

Fig. 7, a detail sectional view ofa portion of the trip mechanism for operating the raising and lowering of the fork; and

Fig. 8, a diagrammatic view of the electric wiring of the device.

Similar numerals of reference refer to coi'res iioiiding parts throughout the drawings.

A furnace of usual construction is indicated generally at 1, provided with the heating chamber 2, having a vertically sliding door 3 for closing the same, the hearth 4; having the longitudinal abutments 5 at opposite sides thereof to support the racks 6 upon which the ware, indicated at 7, is carried.

The door 3 of the furnace is mounted for vertical reciprocation upon the upright guides 8, one of which is elongated above the door, and provides a fulcrum as at 9 for a lever 10 one end of which is connected to the cable 11 which is attached to the upper end of the door as by the lug 1.2, a cable 13 being suspended from the other end of the lever and supporting the counter weight 14.

A frame work comp using the uprights 15, the track members 16 and horizontalend members 17, is mounted in aiinement with the furnace and supports the carriage indicated generally at 18, which is provided with the front and rear flanged wheels 19 and 20 respectively, mounted to travel upon the tracks 16.

The front wheels are fixed upon a shaft 21 upon which is mounted a worm gear 22 meshing with the worm upon the shaft of the motor 24 which is supported upon the forward portion of the carriage.

The fork 2 5 is carried at the lower end of a vertically slidable frame comprising the vertical, rectangular portion 26 and the rearwardly inclined brace members 27 connected to the upper end of the rectangular portion of the frame and joined at their lower ends by the cross piece 28 upon which the rear ends of the fork members are supported.

This frame is provided with the rollers 29 and 30 which engage opposite sides of the vertical guide members 31 suspended from the carriage 18. A rack bar 32 is con nected to the upper portion of the reciprocating frame and meshes with apinion mounted upon a shaft 34.

A pulley 35 is fixed upon the shaft 3% and the ends of the cables 36 are connected to said pulley and extend outward in opposite directions over the pulleys 37 sup'-- porting the counter weights 38 which are slidably mounted upon the vertical guide rods 39.

A motor 40 is mounted upon the carriage and provided with a worm 41 upon its shaft, said worm meshing with the worm gear 12 upon the shaft if) which is journaled in bearings 44 supported upon the carriage.

An eccentric 45 is fixed upon the shaft 43, an eccentric band 6 being located around said eccentric and connected by means of the link d7 with the vertically reciprocating frame 2627. Thus as the shaft 43 is rotated the reciprocating frame which supports the fork will be raised and lowered by means of the eccentric and link.

A lever is pivoted, near one end, to a stationary portion of the frame as shown at 51, the opposite end being connected to the cable 13 which supports the counter weight 14. The other end of the lever is provided with a stud 52 arranged to move in the upper or lower cam tracks. and respectively, which are formed in a member supported upon one side of the carriage.

A finger 56 is pivoted as at 57 upon the member 55, by any suitable means which will frictionally hold the finger in either position into which it is moved, a pair of pins 58 and 59 being provided in the member for limiting the movement of the finger 5G in either direction. It will be seen that as this finger is moved into the upper position. or against the pin 58, it closes the forward end of the upper cam track and when moved into the lower position or against the pin 59 it closes the entrance to the lower cam track 54, thus guiding the stud upon the lever 50, into either of the cam tracks as desired.

A similar finger 60 is located at the rear end of the member 55 for closing the eu trance to the upper orlower cam tracks as desired, pins 61 and ($2 limiting the movement of the finger GO in either direction.

This last named finger is fixed upon a shaft 63 which is journaled through the member 55 and provided with a rocker arm 6st through the end of which the headed rod 65 is slidably mounted, springs (36 and ('37 being located around said rod upon opposite sides of the rocker arm 64, the spring 66 engaging the head upon the rod while the spring 67 engages the lever 68 which is connected to the lower end of the rod, and pivoted intermediate its extremities as at 9 to a suitable portion of the carriage, the free end of said lever being slotted, as shown at 70, to receive the rod 71' which is carried by the vertically reciprocating frame 2627.

The line wires, leading from any suitable source of electric supply, are shown at T2 and 73 T4 and 75 respectively, the trolley wheels 76 and 77 mounted upon the carriage being arranged to engage the trolley wires it and '75 respectively. A manually operated switch 78 is located in the line 74-.

The trolley wheel 76 is connected. by a wire 79 with a switch point 80 upon the carriage and with a contact Sl upon the switch blade 82, said contact being insulated from the contact 83 at the other end of said switch blade. A wire 84: leads from the switch point contact 8 3 to the motor 2-l a wire 85 con necting the trolley wheel 7 with said motor. A wire 86 connects the wire 85 with the raising and lowering motor 40, which is also connected by a wire 87 with the switch point 88 arranged to be engaged by the contact 81 of the switch blade.

The switch blade 82 is carried upon a lever 89, pivoted at 90 upon the carriage and connected l. a slotted link 91 with the lever 92 which is pivoted as at 93'upon the carriage. The elongated slot 9% in the link 91 is engaged by the pin 95 upon the lever 92.

A pair of contacts 96 and 97 are insulated from each other and carried by the lever 92, and are connected by the wires 98 and 99 respectively with the motor 24. Wires 100 and 101 lead from the motor 2-1- to the switch points 102 and 103 respectively, the switch point 104. being also connected to the wire 100.

A reversing switch is thus provided for reversing the motor 241- as the motor will run in one direction when the contacts 96 and and are connected to the trolley wires 97 are in engagement with the switch points 102 and 103 respectively, as shown in Fig. 8, and will run in the opposite direction when these contacts engage the switch points 103 and 10% respectively.

A stud 105 is lined upon the carriage for engagement with the manually operated switch to open the same when the carriage moves back to the normal position, and a stud 1.06 is fixed upon the frame for engagement with the lever 89 to operate the switch blade 82 when the carriage moves to the for aid extent of its movement. A finger 10'? is fixed upon the frame in position to engage the lever 92 when the carriage reaches the normal position to throw the reversing switch 96 97 into the position shown in Fig. 8.

A. lever 108 is pivoted as at 109 upon the carriage and provided with a depending finger 110 which is normally held out of en gagement with the switch blade 82 by the means of a spring 111. The other end of this lever is arranged to be engaged by the studs 112 which are diametrically oppositely located upon the worm gear 42.

The pipe 113, which supplies oil or gas fuel to the furnace is provided with a valve 114-, the valve stem 115 thereof having a hell crank 116 fixed thereon, a weight 117 lacing suspended from one arm of the bell crank. the other arm thereof being connected by a rod 118 with one arm of a bell crank 119, pivoted as at 120 upon the frame. The other arm of this bell crank has a depending ti q er 1:21 arranged to be engaged by the iin- 122. ing frame 2627, when the same is in the raised position.

Tl:.e operation of the device is as follows: l l ith the parts in. the position shown in Figs. 1 and 8, the fork is in the initial or normal position, ready for charging the furnace. the switch 78 being open, the motors stopped and the vertically reciprocating frame E20-2T in the raised position holding the fork in the upper or initial position.

The ware 7. resting upon the racks 6, is placed upon the fork and the switch 78 is manually closed. The circuit is thus closed, through the switch point 80 and contact 83, to the motor 24:. the reversing switch being in position to operate said motor, in a direction to move the carriage forward or to ward the furnace.

As the carriage starts its forward movement the pin upon the lever will travel through the cam slot the forward end of the lever 50 being moved downward pulling the cable 13 downward and rocking the lever 10 to raise the door of the furnace sufliciently to clear the ware 7 as the fork moves into the furnace. As the carriage reaches the forward limit of its movement, that is when the ware is entirely within the furcarried by the vertically reciprocat nace, the lever 89 will be engaged by the stud 106 rocking the switch blade 82 into the position opposite from that shown in Fig. 8, breaking the contact at -S3 and closing the contact at 8188, thus breaking the circuitto the motor 2% and closing the circuit to the raising and lowering motor 0. The fork will then be lowered by the lowering operation of the vertically reciprocating frame 26--27 through the eccentric to.

As this action takes place one of the pins 11:2 will engage the lever 108 rocking the same, the linger 110 thereof engaging the switch blade and throwing the same back into the position shown in Fig. 8. The circuit is now broken through the motor t0 and again closed through the motor El and the reversing switch to said motor being in the position opposite to that shown in Fig. 8,

the carriage will be moved backward, leaving the ware deposited upon the hearth in the manner shown in 5, the fork being withdrawn from. the furnace in lowered position.

it should be noted that as the vertically reciprocating frame 2627 is lowered, the lever 70 is rocked, throwing the switching linger 00 into the raised position, causing the pin upon the lever 50 to travel back through the lower cam slot 5%. It will be seen that the door is thus lowered sufficiently to just permit the empty fork to be withdrawn, and er the for r is entirely with drawn, the pin. traveling down tl'irough the forward inclined end of the cam slot entirely closes the door, at the same time raising the switching linger so as to permit the pin to an in travel back through the lower cam track upon the next opera tion of the carriage.

As the carriage reaches the initial pos tion the switch 78 will be opened by the stud 105 and the reversing switch will be thrown into, the initial position, as shown in Fig. 8, by means of the finger 107. The Janie 2G2'. being in lowered position. the finger 122 thereon will not engage the finger 19.1 of the bell. crank 119. The weight 117 will thus hold the valve 114 in closed position. This is essential in the baking of enameled ware as the burners must be shut off during tl e time the ware is in the furmice to prevent soot from marring the ware.

a i hen the ware is properly burned the operator again closes the switch 78 starting the carriage forward, opening the door inst sufiiciently to permit the empty fork to pass under the same. As the carriage reaches the forward limit of its movement the motor 241 will be stopped and reversed, as above described, and the motor 4-0 operated, raising the frame 26f37, the fork thus engaging the racks 6 upon which the burnt ware is carried, lifting the same free the hearth, at which point the switch blade 82 will be automatically reversed, as above described, stopping the motor and starting the motor 2% in the reverse direction, moving the carriage back to the normal position, withdrawing the fork in the raised position with the burnt ware thereon, further opening the door just suflicicntly to permit the ware to pass out of the furnace, after which the door is entirely closed.

As the carriage again reaches the normal position the manually operated switch 78 will again be opened by the stud 105 stop ping the carriage. T he vertically reciprocating frame 26 27 being in the raised position, the finger 122 thereof will engage the finger 121 of the bell crank 119, as shown in Fig. 6, opening the valve 114-, turning on the gas or oil burners and properly heating the furnace until the next operation of the fork to carry new were into the furnace, as above described.

I claim:

1. A charging fork for furnaces including means for moving the fork into the furnace, cooperating machanism set in operation by said inward movement of the fork. for,

automatically moving the fork vertically within the furnace, and cooperating mechanism set in operation by said vertical movement of the fork for automatically withdrawing the fork from the furnace.

2. A charging fork for furnaces including means for moving the fork into the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said inward movement of the fork for automatically moving the fork vertically within the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said vertical movement of the fork for automatically withdrawing the fork from the furnace, and means oper atcd by the withdrawing movement of the fork for automatically stopping the fork after it is withdrawn from the furnace.

A. charging fork for furnaces including means for moving the fork into the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said inward movement of the fork for antomatically raising the fork within the furnace, and cooperating mechanism set in operation by said raising movement of the fork for automatically withdrawing the fork in raised position.

4-. A charging fork for furnaces including means for moving the fork into the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said inward movement of the fork for automatically lowering the fork within the furnace, and cooperating mechanism set in operation by said lowering movement of the fork for automatically withdrawing the fork in lowered position.

5. A charging fork for furnaces including means for moving the fork into the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said inward movement of the fork for antomatically lowering the fork within the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in op eration by said lowering movement of the fork for automatically withdrawing the fork in lowered position, and mechanism operated by said withdrawing movement of the fork for automatically stopping the fork after it is withdrawn from the furnace.

6. A charging fork for furnaces including means for moving the fork into the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said inward movement of the fork for automatically raising the fork within the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said raising movement of the fork for automatically withdrawing the fork in raised position, and mechanism operated by said withdrawing movement of the fork for automatically stopping the fork after it is withdrawn from the furnace.

7. A charging fork for furnaces including means for moving the fork into the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said. inward movement of the fork for automatically lowering the fork within the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said lowering movement of the fork for automatically withdrawing the fork in lowered position, means for again moving the fork into the furnace in lowered position, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said inward movement of the fork in lowered position for automatically raising the work within the furnace, and cooperating mechanism set in operation by said raising movement of the fork for automatically withdrawing the fork from the furnace in raised position.

8. A charging fork for furnaces including means for moving the fork into the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said inward movement of the fork for automatically lowering the fork within the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said lowering movement of the fork for automatically withdrawing the fork in lowered position, means for again moving the fork into the furnace in lowered posi tion, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said inward movement of the fork in lowered position for automatically raising the fork within the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said raising movcment of the fork for automatically withdrawing the fork from the furnace in raised position, and mechanism operated by said withdrawing movement of the fork in raised position for automatically stopping the fork after it is withdrawn from the furnace.

9. A charging fork for furnaces including means for moving the fork into the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said inward movement of the fork for automatically lowering the fork within the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said lowering movement of the fork for automatically withdrawing the fork in lowered position, mechanism operated by said withdrawing movement of the fork for automatically stopping the fork after it is withdrawn from the furnace, means for moving the fork into the furnace in lowered position, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said inward movement of the fork in low-- cred position for automatically raising the fork within the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said raising movement of the fork for automatically withdrawing the fork in raised position, and mechanism operated by said withdrawing movement of the fork in raised position for automatically stopping the fork after it is withdrawn from the furnace.

10. In combination with a furnace having a door, a charging fork including means for moving the fork into the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by the inward movement of the fork for automatically opening the door as the fork is moved toward the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by the inward movement of the fork for automatically lowering the fork within the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by the lowering movement of the fork for automatically withdrawing the fork in lowered position, and mechanism operated by the Withdrawing movement of the fork for automatically closing the door as the fork is withdrawn.

11. In combination with a furnace having a door, a charging fork including means for moving the fork into the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by said inward movement of the fork for automatically opening the door as the fork is moved toward the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by the inward movementof the fork for automatically lowering the fork within the furnace, means for partially closing the door as the fork is lowered, cooperating mechanism set in operation by the lowering movement of the fork for automatically withdrawing the fork in the lowered position, and means operated by the withdrawing movement of the fork for entirely closingthe door as the fork is withdrawn.

12. In combination with a furnace having a door, a charging fork including means for moving the fork into the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by the inward movement of the fork for partially opening the door as the fork is moved toward the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by the inward movement of the fork for automatically raising the fork within the furnace, means for further opening the door as the fork is raised, cooperating mechanism set in operation by the raising movement of the fork for automatically withdrawing the fork in the raised position, and cooperating mechanism set in operation by the withdrawing movement of the fork for automatically closing the door as the fork is withdrawn.

13. In combination with a furnace having a fuel controlling valve, a charging fork including means for moving the fork into the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by the inward movement of the fork for automatically raising the fork within the furnace, cooperating mechanism set in operation by the raising movement of the fork for automatically withdrawingthe fork in raised position and means controlled by the withdrawal of the fork for automatically opening the valve as the fork is withdrawn. I

14. In combination with a furnace having a fuel controlling valve, a charging fork, means for moving the charging fork into the furnace in raised or lowered position, means for moving the charging fork vertically within the furnace, means for withdrawing the fork in raised or lowered position and means for automatically opening the fuel valve when the fork is withdrawn in raised position.

15. In combination with a furnace, a'carriage mounted in front of the furnace, a charging fork carried by the carriage, a motor for operating the carriage toward and from the furnace, a motor for raising and lowering the fork, a reversing switch for the first named motor and automatic means for stopping the carriage operating motor at a predetermined time, starting the raising and lowering motor, operating the reversing switch, stopping the raising and lowering motor and operating the carriage operating motor.

16. In combination with a furnace, a car'- riage mounted in front of the furnace, a charging fork carried by the carriage, a motor for operating the carriage toward and from the furnace, a motor for raising and lowering the fork, a reversing switch for the first named motor and automatic means for stopping the carriage operating motor at a predetermined time, starting the raising and lowering motor, operating the reversing switch, stopping the raising and lowering motor and operating the carriage operating motor, and stopping the carriage operating motor at a predetermined time. p

In testimony that I claim the above, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

FRANCIS KOCH. 

